Due to the high cost of precursor materials, complex oxides of 4d and 5d transition metals are under-studied compared to their 3d counterparts. Recent studies have shown that oxides containing heavier transition metals can exhibit exotic electronic states due to presence of strong spin-orbit coupling. The goal of this dissertation...
Piezoelectric materials have been widely used in electromechanical actuators, sensors, and ultrasonic transducers. Among these materials, lead zirconate titanate Pb(Zr[subscript 1‐x]Ti[subscript x])O₃ (PZT) has been primarily investigated due to its excellent piezoelectric properties. However, environmental concerns due to the toxicity of PbO have led to investigations into alternative materials systems....
Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) is the dominant ferroelectric material in the market due to its excellent piezoelectric properties, relatively high Curie transition temperature (T[subscript C]), low cost, etc. However, because of emerging applications with requirements for high temperature (T[subscript C] > 400 °C) ferroelectrics, researchers are increasingly looking at alternative...